FIGUEROA: New LPGA commissioner seeks improvements for the sport

Commissioner Mike Whan is a fireplug with Red Bull-type energy
and Trump-like straight talk the LPGA desperately needed to emerge
from the dark days of Carolyn Bivens.

The inaugural Founders Cup, which donated its entire $1 million
purse to the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program and designated charities
of the top-10 finishers, was a brilliant idea.

And it's exciting to see the continuing surge of international
players, who are quickly turning the women's game into a global
one.

The problem is there are still are a number of things still
wrong with the LPGA that it's unclear whether women's golf will
ever be in the right place.

The biggest problem is exposure. With only 24 events on the
calendar, the fewest number of events in 40 years, the LPGA just
doesn't have it. Not when you're competing for airtime with the
PGA, Champions and Nationwide tours on The Golf Channel.

And with so few events, it's tough for the tour to build a
continuous following or any kind of week-to-week momentum. This
week's Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage will mark the
third straight week of events for the LPGA. But come Sunday, the
tour goes silent for nearly a month.

Never mind that the tour didn't play its first tournament of the
season on U.S. soil until mid-March.

It didn't help matters when the LPGA decided to cancel the Tres
Marias Championship, scheduled for April 21-24, over concerns about
drug violence in Mexico. But what it shows is that the LPGA doesn't
have any wiggle room.

"Turning on the TV in April is going to be frustrating and
embarrassing," Whan told Golf World magazine recently.

But Whan is ever the optimist.

At a press conference in January, Whan recognized the challenges
his tour faces. But he also said there are positive signs that are
encouraging, such as the season purse is $44 million, up from $41.5
million in 2010. And the LPGA actually will get more airtime this
year than last, although much of it will be tape-delayed.

And although the tour lost two tournaments in 2010, it added two
in China.

It's slow progress, but it is progress.

"The LPGA is all about, empower, inspire, educate," Whan said.
"The way for us to do that is to give the best women on the planet
an opportunity to empower, inspire, and educate. We want to do that
literally worldwide and do that in as many places as we can. So
getting on TV more, playing for more, it's all part of a growth
plan to make sure we really do create the greatest golfers
worldwide and give them that opportunity."

There's also been a lot of talk lately about the LPGA possibly
joining forces with the PGA Tour, a topic that has been tossed
around for decades.

Many LPGA players have been resistant to the idea in fear of
losing their identity since they would be folded into the mix with
the PGA, Champions and Nationwide tours.